Dwarka

Understand

thumb|Dwarkadheesh temple The original Dwarka is believed to be sunken in the sea. Divers till today are researching, after finding the artifacts from the sea floor. A small island nearby is known as Bet Dwarka; you can hire a boat from Dwarka to go there. Bet Dwarka is a part mud and part sand beach. However, it's the best place for zoologists.

Due to its isolation and relatively limited accessibility by train (booking an overnight train from Ahmedabad is unattractive due to the schedule (as of 2013)), Dwarka is very rarely visited by foreign tourists. It is, however, very popular in the domestic tourist market and has some excellent attractions. Its omission from international guidebooks like Lonely Planet is a serious one.

Get in

Dwarka is 450 km from Ahmedabad. Nearby airports are at Rajkot (225 km away) and Jamnagar (121 km away). Both are served by Spicejet and Goair. The railway station is located almost 2 km from the main Temple and has direct trains to Mumbai and other cities in India.

A sleeper bus from Ahmedabad costs ₹450 per head and leaves from the highway on the outskirts of the city. It can be boarded at Patel Tours and Travels, but they may shuttle passengers (ie: an unmarked van) to the other boarding point without providing all of the details about departure times. It departs at 10:30PM and arrives in Dwarka early in the morning.

Get around

Local Municipal administration has "Dwarka Darshan" sight seeing non-AC bus facility. Twice a day: 8AM and 2PM. ₹100 per seat. Each trip takes about 5-6 hours. Booking office 1. Near Vegetable market 2. Bhadrakali chowk. This trip covers Nageshwar, Gopi Talab, Bet Dwarka and Rukshmani Temple.

See

Most importantly, Dwarkadhish mandir sits at the heart of this small city.

There are a lot of places around Dwarka which can be covered in a single day. There are local taxis which are available which would help you to visit them. The major ones covered are:

Nageshwar Temple - This is also one of the prominent Jyotirlingas and it is at around 8 km from Dwarka. Gopi Talav - This is the place where Lord Krishna used to play with his Gopikas. There is a small pond where it is said that Lord Krishna used to play with the Gopika Strees (Gopika Women). Hanuman Mandir - This is also in the Bet Dwarka where Hanuman fought with his son Makaradhwaja. To cover this place, it is advised to start as early as 7AM as this is lonely place and a rickshaw has to be hired to visit this place. The Light House - Light House is famous place at sea-coast of Dwarka. One can enjoy complete silence sitting at the sea coast. Behind the Light House, there is a huge cave below the coast naturally created by striking of sea water. One can watch fishermen catching fishes in the midst of Ocean in complete silence. There is also a small Ganesh temple behind the Light House.